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----- Original Message ----- From: <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2000 7:03 PM Subject: Re: Re Harrowing of Hell - was - Dante's Inferno [snip] If baptism were a sure-fire guarantee of eternal protection from the wrath of God, what would be the point in excommunicating anyone? And what would be the point of all those calls from Christ, in Revelation, to repent and be saved? [snip] above all we're supposed to remember that salvation is a gift of God. And as Dante's God is able to do anything, he can, should he wish to do so, break his own rules by extending this grace to even those of the unbaptized whom he finds worthy. [snip] If one doesn't start with the idea of the almightiness of God, and his mercy in extending the gift of salvation (of which no human being is really worthy), one misses all the mystery and wonder. One becomes just another pedantic bean-counter, making lists of who was baptised and who wasn't. It seems to me that Dante is deliberately trying to make [us]... remember that God is at the center of the picture, or that baptism would be a meaningless gesture were this not the case. After all, what would be left of Christianity if it had baptism but no God? This I endorse heartily. Isn't there an account somewhere of Dame Julian of Norwich having a vision of Hell and it was empty - "no one was in it not even the Jew." And by "the Jew" I have always supposed she meant Judas Iscariot. I have had another look at the picture in Santa Maria Assunta, Torcello and it has Christ hauling out Adam on the one side with an elegant Eve standing hopefully behind him while behind them stand King David and King Solomon ie secular rulers. On the other lip of Hell stands John the Baptist (last in, first out ???) pointing to the cross and behing him are ranked all the prophets of the OT lead by Isaiah with an impressive beard. BMC %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%